Iran’s Welfare Organization Responds to ‘Report of Sexual Abuse of Girls with Disabilities’

Iran’s Welfare Organization, in response to reports regarding sexual abuse of a group of girls in care centers for individuals with intellectual disabilities, has emphasized that “it will seriously pursue the matter of assault and if proven, will deal with violators through judicial authorities”.

The Mehr News Agency reported on Saturday, September 11, that in some care centers for individuals with intellectual disabilities, all of whom are girls, these individuals are being sexually abused.

The news agency, citing staff members of one of these centers, revealed “sexual harassment and abuse by one of the facility personnel of a girl at this center on multiple occasions.”

This social worker, whose identity was not disclosed, stated that the director of this center, after learning about the matter, “took no action to defend this girl” and intends to transfer her to another center.

Mehr News Agency identified this girl by the initials “S” and reported that two other girls with intellectual disabilities had previously been “victims of misconduct” by an employee at this center.

As mentioned in the report, these two girls were also transferred to other centers by the center’s director; however, the “facility staff member” who committed such violations, despite being fired by the Welfare Organization, was rehired by the aforementioned director.

The report also stated that this offending employee is himself the father of a child with “intellectual disabilities.”

Mehr News Agency reported in another section of its report that the center’s director is “refraining” from referring this girl to the coroner’s office to take legal action and punish the offending employee.

The news agency added, “The director of this center was recently promoted and wants to resolve the matter secretly to prevent the center from being disgraced.”

The report states that the aforementioned director “asked the center’s psychologist to issue a certificate to cover up the matter, based on which this girl had hallucinations due to intellectual disabilities and her statements are not real.”

Mehr News Agency continued its report by informing about the occurrence of sexual harassment and abuse of girls in other care centers for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

The news agency reported from another center where one of the officials along with two other personnel sexually harass and abuse girls.

One of the girls from this center said that the items brought to them by charitable donors are not given to them. “Then to get those items, they set conditions for us.”

This girl added that “girls with intellectual and physical disabilities, like any other person, have needs. It is natural that many of them quickly accept such offers.”

Nabilolah Eshqi Sani, former director of the Department of Orphaned Children at the Welfare Organization, also said regarding the occurrence of these incidents in the mentioned centers: “Studies show that harm often occurs by individuals such as guards, gardeners, servants, cleaners, and facilities managers.”

Mr. Eshqi Sani added that “certainly at the initial stage of staff selection, controls must continuously happen, and oversight of staff performance should be annually and even every six months, and this supervision is not something you do once and it’s over.”

Sexual abuse and harassment of girls in care centers for individuals with intellectual disabilities in Iran is not a new matter, and from time to time such reports are published by media in this country.

There is no precise statistics on the extent of such crimes occurring in the mentioned centers, and typically the officials of these centers and even the Welfare Organization are unwilling to provide reports and explanations regarding such crimes and violations.

Children, particularly girls in Iran, like many other countries, are constantly exposed to sexual abuse and harassment, and among them, those children who suffer from intellectual disabilities are at greater risk of these threats.

Mansoureh Karimzadeh, director of the educational group in the field of child development and preschool education at the University of Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, also said on this matter: “Children with intellectual disabilities are more vulnerable compared to normal children.”

Ms. Karimzadeh identified “lack of” knowledge and sexual education and “emotional dependency on adults” as two important factors in the vulnerability of these children.

She added that “children with intellectual disabilities do not recognize sexual abuse for various reasons. These reasons include fear, threats, concern about losing a caregiver, and unfamiliarity with sexual abuse or physical contact.”

Ms. Karimzadeh added that “we must provide necessary education to parents and these children so that these adolescents do not have such bitter experiences.”

Results of a foreign study show that the prevalence of sexual abuse among individuals with intellectual disabilities ranges between 25 to 83 percent, and nevertheless, today it is widely accepted that individuals with intellectual disabilities are at higher risk of sexual abuse.

Based on the results of this research, 80 percent of victims with intellectual disabilities are abused more than once, and this is while only 20 percent of sexual assaults against individuals with intellectual disabilities are reported.

Source: Radio Farda